LDI Preview Part 1
We are getting close to LDI and I thought I would share with you all what we have up our sleeves this year.
First off - a great product, SmartSoft. SmartSoft is a software package companion for SmartFade ML (and soon SmartFade) that allows you to have video display (and much more) with your SmartFade ML. You're going to like this!
SmartSoft was designed by Adam Benette - creator of the ML console. The Software was done by Lars Wernlund - also knwon for his great product Capture. Anders Ekvall is the software developer for Congo, SmartFade and SmartFade ML.
SmartSoft boots fast and looks good. Cleanly designed screens make it easy to see your data and it runs on fairly weak PC's. Only real requirement is windows (for now) and a 1280x1064 display. Connect SmartFade to your ML console via USB and your off to the races.
You can click all the images below to get full size screens.
The display above will be best for working in offline mode. You get the controls you need most often and a cue list for the stack. A series of tabs across the top allow you to navigate to different screens. You also get labelling of the device and channel names. The faders at the bottom work live and interact with the connected desk.
The above image is of the Palettes tab. You can view and edit palette data in this screen. When you view the full image notice that you get a pan/tilt position indicator. Color palettes also show the approximate CMY mixture. Change the values in this screen by clicking on them - the Color will change too!
The patch tab is another cool one. You can see the 2 DMX ports in a field and channel and device indicators above. You can drag intensity channels to any address - or any DMX address can be dragged to a channel. Best of all you can drag a device to any DMX address and get the pop up as shown below to select your device. The entire Carallon library, over 1,000 devices, is included and you create your own devices as well.
This is a great feature for setting up shows in advance. SmartSoft also has a main output display that shows intensity and parameter values.
This display would most likely be used for running and programming live.
The pages tab is used to see and label content on the various memory pages. You get labelling here to see what the actual content is. This is a great way to keep track of a lot of memories.
There are dedicated screens for editting memories and sequences. It is really easy to insert and delete steps and you can see exactly what is going to happen next. The image below shows a sequence ready to be editted.
SmartSoft is a great addition to the SmartFade line. It will initially work with SmartFade ML only, but regular SmartFade users will get the benefits in early 2008.
Best of all - IT IS FREE. SmartSoft will be on display at LDI. We will be starting a public beta of SmartSoft in November open to all ETC Forum registered users. If you own an ML - look for the beta soon. If you don't own an ML - look for the beta - download - you'll want to buy an ML.
Any questions? Post them here as comments.